Government Can't Do it All (Or Even Most of It)

People who put faith in government to solve national or even individual
problems are headed for deep disappointment, if it hasn't already arrived.
Still, that doesn't stop politicians from attempting to sell political snake
oil to the gullible. No one ever lost money betting on the ignorance of the
uninformed masses.

What should be required viewing before the election is "John Stossel's
Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics," a "20/20" report critical of the
U.S. government's ability to get things done (abcnews.com). The report
looked at facts, not opinions, or "feelings" concerning government's
inability to live up to the high expectations caused by over-promising
politicians.

Stossel visited New Orleans to see how government reconstruction is
progressing three years after Hurricane Katrina. What he found should not
surprise anyone. Huge numbers of houses remain un-repaired thanks to a
bureaucracy that could serve as a plot for a horror movie called "Nightmare
on Bourbon Street." The forms necessary to apply for permits to conduct any
repairs or construct new buildings take 10 minutes to explain. As for the
houses themselves, "Of the 314 public projects (New Orleans Mayor Ray) Nagin
promoted in his 'One New Orleans' rebuilding campaign announced in January
2006, only six are complete."

Contrast that with what the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity has done: "They
built 70 homes quickly," noted Stossel. "Even Nagin admitted they did what
government didn't." Private enterprise has succeeded, where government has
failed. Actor Brad Pitt ("Brad Pitt has done more for this community than
anyone," said Malik Rahim, one of the co-founders of Common Ground
Collective, a group formed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina) and
singer Harry Connick Jr. have been at the forefront of efforts to circumvent
government stagnation.

Stossel asked the obvious question: If Pitt and Connick can help build
dozens of new homes, why does it take government so long to follow through
on its plans? Nagin explains he's made it easier for people to rebuild their
homes, providing permits online at kiosks throughout the city.

Stossel visited city hall and guess what? Not one of the kiosks worked!
Conclusion? Individual Americans do things better, with less bureaucracy and
at less cost than the central planning collective known as government.

Another issue was campaign finance reform, which has come back to bite its
chief promoter, Sen. John McCain. It is a maze of incomprehensible
regulations. Stossel displayed the Federal Election Commission (FEC)
regulation book, which contains nearly 500 pages of small print set in
double columns. For effect, he taped the pages together and then stretched
them out on the Giant's football field. The pages "spanned the whole field
and halfway back."

He showed people who ran afoul of the law by placing signs in yards in
opposition to an annexation ballot initiative. It's a head-shaker. Another
example: Ada Fisher, a retired doctor, ran for Congress in North Carolina
with an all-volunteer staff. The FEC imposed a $10,000 fine on her because
she somehow violated their rules. She noted that even "reform" laws are
designed to help incumbents stay in office. Stossel said the extremely high
re-election rate of members of Congress remains the same as it was before
"reform," which was promoted as a way to open up the system to more
challengers.

Stossel used a visual metaphor to demonstrate why government regulations
stifle individual initiative, leading to dysfunction. He visited a skating
rink where people managed to go in the same direction and at about the same
speed without instructions from anyone. Then he introduces Brian Boitano, a
former Olympic skater, who begins telling some skaters they are going too
fast and others too slow and shouting other commands. Chaos results. The
moral? "Intuition leads us to think that complex problems require centrally
planned solutions, but political decision-making is rarely the answer. Life
works best when we govern ourselves."

Both John McCain and Barack Obama are asking us to trust them to "fix" what
is wrong in Washington. One would make things worse, but neither would have
the power to make things much better. That would take cooperation.
Politicians promote faith in themselves, though such faith has proven to be
misplaced. They want the power. The worst thing the public can do is to give
one party unchecked power with no restraints.

If Obama wins and Democrats expand their congressional majorities,
especially to a filibuster-proof advantage in the Senate, this will be to
our collective detriment.